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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26389291">Sunflower</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProustPerfume/pseuds/ProustPerfume'>ProustPerfume</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Bakery, Cute, Does this count as angst I don’t know, First Meetings, Fluff, If it does just a TINYYY bit, Love at First Sight, M/M, Meet-Cute, Sakusa Kiyoomi Is A Dashing Man, Slow Burn, Sunflowers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 09:36:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,807</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26389291</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProustPerfume/pseuds/ProustPerfume</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“'It’s regretful to say, but I didn’t quite catch your name the last time we spoke,' the man said softly, all the charm in the world coming only from him.</p><p>For the briefest second, Hinata forgot his name, his entire existence completely disrupted by this one man, but when he regained a little of his consciousness back he quickly replied. 'H-Hinata Shoyo.'</p><p>The man smiled brightly at his name and Hinata was certain the sun hadn’t set yet, because it was right in front of him. 'Sakusa Kiyoomi.'</p><p>'It’s so nice to meet you, Sakusa Kiyoomi.'</p><p>'As it is to you, Hinata Shoyo.'"</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hinata Shouyou/Sakusa Kiyoomi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>184</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Sunflower</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/1813/gifts">1813</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Enjoy, RM &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Hinata was not having a good day. Most people assumed working in a bakery would be a joyous experience, a career that would always put a smile on your face and leave you with few complaints and an added bonus of free treats, and while this was true for most days for Hinata, just like any other job, running a bakery had its tiresome and all around bad days, and it had been one of those days.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His morning started fine, the same as it usually did with his morning run, hearty breakfast, and bike ride over to work, but the real trouble started once he made it to the bakery. Before he even locked his bike up, his phone vibrated and begged for his attention, signifying he’d received a message. When he pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened up the messaging app, his stomach dropped at what he saw.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>On the screen was a text from his mentor and the head baker he was fulfilling his baking apprenticeship under, Kita Shinsuke. Kita said he would be unable to make it into work that day because he had a family emergency he promptly needed to attend to. Normally this was fine, and somewhat of a regular occurance with the baker’s aging grandmother, but the problem lied in the fact that just the day before the assistant baker, an unexcitable man who only had passion for pastries named Suna Rintarou, had called out for a family event he needed to attend over the weekend.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With both of the primary bakers out and unavailable for opening, this meant Hinata would have to open the shop up by himself. This was </span>
  <em>
    <span>very</span>
  </em>
  <span> bad since Hinata </span>
  <em>
    <span>hated</span>
  </em>
  <span> opening. He’d only done it one time before and it was a disaster even with the helpful (Kita) and watchful (Suna) eyes of his head bakers who were training him so he could do it on his own. Opening up shop by himself? After last time, he didn’t have high hopes and the thought immediately made his mood plummet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Regardless, he knew no one else would be in for at least a few hours and thus he had to open, so he sent Kita a text back wishing his grandmother well and pocketed his phone, sighing as he finally locked his bike.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Preparing the shop was something he usually enjoyed doing, honestly, it was more so the responsibility of having to be everywhere and make sure things were running smoothly so early in the morning before the rest of the openers showed up that he didn’t like. He usually had afternoon shifts, but when he opened he was almost always accompanied by Kita and Suna, who did the heavy lifting in terms of unlocking everything, starting up the ovens, and attending to the more managerial aspects of running the business, while he cleaned the kitchen and prepped the ingredients.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was a little overwhelmed at the very start of his shift but he managed, trying to remember the steps Kita would go through when opening the bakery up and the plans for today Suna had laid out before he left the day before. By 8am, things started to really resemble how the shop normally looked in the morning by that time and Hinata felt a little bit better, stressed but proud as he watched over the shop, the sounds of the oven cooking his precious treats bringing him a sense of fulfilment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shortly after, the other apprentice baker Miya Osamu clocked on and things ran a little more smoothly with Hinata’s peer there, the other slightly more experienced as he’d been at the bakery longer and was usually one of the openers. He almost laughed when he saw how high strung the little baker looked desperately trying to shove a rack back into place that should’ve slid in easily, but he pitied him slightly for having to open shop all by himself and simply ruffled his hair before washing his hands and helping with the rest of the duties.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mornings were usually their busiest times so Hinata had expected the rush, but it didn’t make things easier. Before working at The Fox Paw, Hinata would’ve never known people could be so aggressive and downright </span>
  <em>
    <span>mean</span>
  </em>
  <span> over pastries. He was mostly holding it together, used to the verbal abuse some customers gave him by now, but his breaking point was when he was serving a little girl and he accidentally gave her the wrong drink. He tried to apologize but it was in futile effort as she grabbed the drink and threw it at him, the top popping off and making orange juice explode all over him, making his apron completely drenched. The father quickly apologized and scolded his daughter, graciously accepting the correct order of chocolate milk and dragging her away as she stuck her tongue out at Hinata, but the damage had already been done.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Technically, he was the shift leader since he had opened, but Osamu knew what he was doing as he manned the shop and was understanding of Hinata’s situation, plus he had Ojiro Aran, their other coworker, to help them out by that point, so he took off Hinata’s apron and shoved him into the bathroom to clean up, and most likely cry because Osamu was sure most people would after that. And cry Hinata did for his entire 15 minute break, his face and eyes red and puffy as he walked back to the lockers slightly damp after scrubbing the juice out and putting a new apron on, but Osamu and Aran pretend not to notice the dried streaks on his cheeks and his rimmed eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Things went mostly well after that, but after such a draining experience Hinata couldn’t help but feel tired and washed out, literally. He sort of shuffled through the rest of the day, keeping up with the pace of the shop but not going above and beyond like he usually did. By the end of his shift, another one of their coworkers named Akagi Michinari had showed up and the other two assured him they could handle things from here on out, telling him not to worry and get home to rest quickly, to which he tiredly nodded to and slowly took his apron off, hanging it before trudging over to his locker and getting his things.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He asked Osamu if they were sure they could handle things, the bottle-grey haired man scoffing and pretending to be offended over Hinata double checking his abilities, and he confirmed that things would be fine. At that, Hinata gave his coworkers a sad wave and bid them farewell before he headed outside.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As if his day couldn’t get any worse, when he reached the bike rack he saw that his bike had been jacked, the frame still locked up but both tires completely missing. He wanted to cry at the sight but he held it in, instead groaning in frustration and kicking the bike rack, which he yelped at and held his throbbing foot in pain. They had a dumpster in the back so he unlocked the lock, cursing at it and probably speaking much meaner than an inanimate object deserved for not protecting his bike, and threw the frame into the dumpster. He wanted to chuck the lock in there too as his way of saying to hell with it all and curse the lock in specific for making his life harder, but it was a pretty expensive lock and in honesty it was probably his fault his bike was stolen, not locking it up properly since he was distracted over Kita’s message, so he shoved it in his pocket begrudgingly and kicked a rock, angrily marching his way home.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>By bike it didn’t take him long to reach his apartment, but on foot the time doubled and while it annoyed him, disrupting the routine he usually had after getting off work, it also gave him time to think and properly process the day’s events. Most of them had been really shitty, especially the orange juice incident with the little girl that made his heart break just to think about, but there had also been some good moments, too. The very first batch of cookies he’d bake when opening the store entirely by himself tasted more delicious than usual, and one of the customers had a birthday and they smiled really big when he sang happy birthday to them, so that was good. There was also a grandma who tipped him well and squeezed his cheeks while she called him cute and that had certainly brightened up his day.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sometimes people called Hinata overly optimistic, but he didn’t look at it that way. Sure, he liked to look at the brighter side of things sometimes, but it was more so to keep himself afloat and away from breaking down than it was to try and “be the positive one”. Looking at both sides of an issue was important to him and helped him deal with his emotions and the way he felt about things, so he tried to spend just as much time looking at the positives as he did the negatives to give him a fuller, rounder view of the picture. Focusing too much on one or the other was never a good thing, so he took care in balancing on that line and did what helped him best to deal with those situations, and reminding himself of the good things that happened was important. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sometimes even the smallest moment could brighten up his day, and he was very grateful to the people who made those moments happen. The best ones were the people who didn’t remember them or hadn’t done it intentionally because it reminded him that some people really were just good people and also how easily it was to affect someone else’s life, even with the smallest gesture, and he took that as a serious responsibility, hoping that one day others could say the same thing about himself as well.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>While thinking of all of this on his walk back home, his mind began to wander and as did his eyes and they stumbled upon the sight of a gorgeous, gigantic sunflower. The sunflower had to be at least a foot taller than him and its leaves and petals blew gently in the wind, almost as if it was waving to him as he passed by. He stood in awe in front of it, the setting sun showering its already beautiful, golden petals in the glittering light and making them shine even more brilliantly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stood on his tiptoes in an attempt to catch the scent of its surely enticing aroma, but he pouted when he couldn’t reach it, the flower much too tall for his height. He thought about what he should do, a serious look of thought on his face. Pulling it down to his height would be rude and might damage it. He could’ve climbed the wall it was near, but it might’ve been private property. He stared up at the flower, almost like he was solving a puzzle as to how he could relish in its scent, when he heard the sound of feeting hitting the pavement and they stopped abruptly near him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you doing?” A deep voice asked curiously. Hinata looked to the side where the voice came from and felt like all the air was punched out of him at the sight of the other person. He looked to be a boy about his age and his beauty easily rivaled the flower’s. His hair was curly and dark, contrasting nicely against the golden hues of the sun, and his black eyes peered into Hinata’s, observing him, and Hinata felt like they could see into his soul. He was also </span>
  <em>
    <span>tall</span>
  </em>
  <span>, almost as tall as the sunflower, and having to look at someone wasn’t normally something Hinata enjoyed, but he found this man was the exception.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“O-oh!” Hinata stuttered, startling out of his daze of staring at the beautiful man. “I was, uh, trying to smell the flower, haha…” He pointed at the flower as a visual aid to his predicament and the man’s eyes followed, that same calculated look now directed towards the sunflower. It wasn’t like he was intense, perse, but he was very serious and calm and it made Hinata feel a little nervous and a little excited, making him gulp in anticipation as to what the man might do.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He seemed to be a rather collected individual, based on both the way he carried himself and his appearance. His clothes were nice, not exactly business but not casual either. He might’ve been a college student at one of the private colleges from around the area, considering the tie and the fact that he wore a backpack, and Hinata found himself wondering what school he went to as the other continued to study the flower. After a moment, he began walking closer to Hinata and Hinata felt a nervousness rise up in his throat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A-Ahaha, what are you doing-” He tried to ask, hands up in defense as the man neared him, but he stopped abruptly when the man reached an arm out above him and suddenly, the sunflower was in his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Here,” the man said quietly, the ever-so slightest hints of softness in his eyes. He wore a mask, so the bottom half of his face was concealed, but Hinata couldn’t help but hope there was a smile on his lips under the mask, and his heart desperately wanted to know what it looked like.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hesitantly, Hinata leaned forward and smelled the flower. He closed his eyes, deeply inhaling the scent, and he let out a little sigh in satisfaction at the smell, the aroma fresh and smelling sweetly of nature. When he opened his eyes, the man was watching him with that same look in his eyes, almost fond as he watched the other experience the smell.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He then leaned in close to Hinata, the shorter of the two holding his breath in anticipation and at the proximity, and he adjusted the flower gently, rotating it so it was facing him. He then did the same as Hinata, inhaling the aroma of the flower, only he maintained eye contact the entire time he did it, the pointed gaze making Hinata shiver and he swore he was going to swoon.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It smells nice,” his deep voice rumbled out, and Hinata could only nod dumbly in response, completely in shock as to what was happening.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In an instance, the moment was over and the man was leaning away, releasing the flower and returning to his stance standing away from Hinata before as if it had never happened. His eyes never left Hinata, watching and waiting for him to make a move, but Hinata was at a loss. If he wasn’t so dazed from the encounter, he would’ve had half a mind to be embarrassed over staring so intently at a complete stranger.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“T-thank you,” He stuttered out, and it was about all he could manage before he felt like he was going to explode, just like the orange juice had from before.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re welcome,” the man replied politely. He was still watching Hinata and something about that look put him on edge in the best way possible.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, I’ll see you around,” the man said before giving Hinata a slight bow. Hinata, still processing what had happened, didn’t even register the man had excused himself, and by the time he had it was too late, the tall, kind man with the beautiful, black eyes nowhere in sight as he searched frantically for him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hinata gave a resigned sigh, the weight of the day finally weighing on him. His encounter with the man had been so unexpected and startling that it made him forget about his exhaustion, but now that it was over his tension and stress of the day hung over him and made his tired body sag in fatigue. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Still, what a strange meeting to have with someone. Not that he minded it, he quite enjoyed it, actually. Being so busy with work and his apprenticeship, he hadn’t had many heart thumping experiences as of late besides when he was worried he’d burn himself pulling bread out of the oven or when a customer’s tension level was steadily rising faster and faster.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This was different, though. This was </span>
  <em>
    <span>exciting</span>
  </em>
  <span>, just thinking about it made his heart skip a beat. The man hadn’t said much, but even from their very short crossing of paths, Hinata could tell he was a very charming and mature man. Remembering the look in his eyes directed right at Hinata as he smelled the flower made him shiver, and though he was tired, he walked home with a bit of a skip in his step.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he got home, he forgot about the man for a moment, the need to wash this bad day off of him and tend to his basic needs taking priority. He spent the rest of his night going through his usual routine, and it wasn’t until he was lying awake at night in bed that it dawned on him he hadn’t even gotten the man's name. Pouting and regretful over his carelessness, he turned to his side and fell asleep, images of dark eyes and yellow flowers and shared pastries dancing behind his eyelids.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he awoke, he felt a bit grumpy, but significantly better than he had the day before. His day progressed as it usually did, no sudden callouts from his boss, no opening the store by himself, no children throwing juices on him, and no dashing, tall, handsome man coming close to him and sweeping him off his feet. He did see the sunflower, though, the only symbolism to confirm that what had happened was indeed real. As he stood in front of it once more, he looked up at its disk florets, hoping that it would be kind and bring the man back to him once more.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Of course, he had no such luck, and even after waiting for a few minutes on the off chance the man might show up again, it was just him and the sunflower. The weeks progressed similarly, Hinata’s days going back to the way they usually were, save for the now added experience of stopping by the sunflower and spending a little bit of time with it before he headed home. Everyday he hoped he might see the man again, and everyday he went home just a little sad. He really was foolish to not have at least asked him for his name.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Weeks eventually turned into months and Hinata soon found himself a year older and the new assistant baker at the bakery. Suna was promoted to be their dedicated cake marker and decorator, having a particular gift when it came to fondant and icing designs, and Kita had decided Hinata had done well enough in his time at the bakery to become his right hand man.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In the year between meeting the man and his promotion, Hinata found himself inspired by flowers and floral designs, particularly those of sunflowers, and they became a big hit with their customers. As the year progressed and Hinata watched the life cycle of the sunflower, it reaching its full bloom, only to wilt and bloom once again, he incorporated its appearance mixed with his emotions into the desserts. Their biggest hit yet was his bittersweet sunset cupcake, the contrasting flavors mixing in a way customers found personal and delicious, as well as the design, a wilting sunflower Hinata learned to pipe all by himself, drawing them in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As Hinata cleaned out one of the display cabinets, finding himself thinking over his encounter with the man and his emotions over it once more as he’d done almost daily for the past year, the bell above the door rang, indicating a new customer had arrived.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just a minute!” He called, almost half his body buried deep in the glass cabinet as he scrubbed as a particularly nasty stain. He wasn’t sure where it came from, the stain almost a dirty brown color that made him a little queasy to look at. He could only guess how long it’d been there, or even where it came from. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he successfully wiped it away clean he made a sound of triumph, calling over his shoulder, “I’ll be with you in one second!” as he went to wash off his hands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he returned, he let out a happy sigh, turning his customer service voice on. As he reached for a pen and paper, in case the order this customer had was a large one, he greeted the customer. “Hi, there! What can I get you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll have a bittersweet sunset cupcake,” the voice announced, and Hinata froze. He recognized the timbre of that voice instantly, and nervously he looked up at the person, his hands slightly shaking.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he saw it was the man from before, the man who a year ago showed him unprecedented kindness and helped him smell the sunflower (</span>
  <em>
    <span>their</span>
  </em>
  <span> sunflower, a very small voice in the back of Hinata’s head whispered, and he hushed it quickly), he gasped and dropped the pencil he was holding.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It had been a year, yet the man looked just as beautiful as he had before. His hair was a little shorter and he was wearing a suit, but he couldn’t focus on that for too long or else he might never stop, and Hinata felt faint when he realized that he wasn’t wearing a mask, the bottom half of his face finally revealed and just as he had expected, the little smile on his face was absolutely </span>
  <em>
    <span>breathtaking</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hi,” the man greeted, smiling a little wider as Hinata’s shell shocked reaction.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“H-Hi,” he stuttered, and instantly he was back to last year. It was dark and the sun had already set, yet the man was illuminated by gold. They were inside, yet he felt like he was surrounded by sunflowers. A counter separated them, yet he </span>
  <em>
    <span>swore</span>
  </em>
  <span> they were touching.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s regretful to say, but I didn’t quite catch your name the last time we spoke,” the man said softly, all the charm in the world coming only from him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For the briefest second, Hinata forgot his name, his entire existence completely disrupted by this one man, but when he regained a little of his consciousness back he quickly replied. “H-Hinata Shoyo.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man smiled brightly at his name and Hinata was </span>
  <em>
    <span>certain</span>
  </em>
  <span> the sun hadn’t set yet, because it was right in front of him. “Sakusa Kiyoomi.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s so nice to meet you, Sakusa Kiyoomi.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“As it is to you, Hinata Shoyo.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for reading!!! This is based off <a href="https://twitter.com/msbys21/status/1303735651632783360?s=20"> this </a> tweet and I absolutely knew I had to write it!! Omihina makes me so soft and this was so fun to write, I hope this comes off as whimsical as it made me feel 🥺 Thank you so much again for reading!!!!</p><p> </p><p>  <a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/edilyfthaseul"> personal  twitter </a><br/><a href="https://twitter.com/fireflysunlight?s=21"> fic twitter </a><br/></p></blockquote></div></div>
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